The rate of behavioral health patients being treated on non-behavioral health units is consistently rising as a result of a lack of appropriate settings and resources. Since the onset of the COVID pandemic, there is now an ever-increasing number of persons that are suffering significant mental health and substance use issues that could require hospitalization. At the current time, healthcare organizations have between 26% and 45% of their population that have a primary or co-morbid behavioral health condition, and this is projected to increase.
It is essential that the organizational focus on strategies that are known to be effective in improving the quality of care and work to reduce risk of harm. This session will focus on the safety concerns of behavioral health patients in non-behavioral treatment settings. High risk issues will be reviewed, and mitigation strategies will be presented.
Learning Objectives:
• Identify the degree to which behavioral health patients present in healthcare organizations
• Describe the major risks associated with behavioral health patients in non-behavioral health settings
• Discuss strategies that can assist in mitigating the risk of harm to patients and staff.